Gulf War Veteran, Paralympian Shares Four Simple Ways to Reach Goals

Army veteran and retired world class athlete John Register could have felt sorry for himself after losing his left leg in a training accident prior to the 1996 Summer Olympics. 

Instead, Register took time to process his grief and develop a plan to forge ahead, even though his dreams and aspirations were challenged in a way he never saw coming. 

Overcoming Obstacles

Register, a Gulf War veteran and motivational speaker, talked about ways to overcome life’s obstacles in a recent interview with FOX21 Morning News in Colorado Springs, Colorado. In the military, Register competed in the Army’s World Class Athlete Program. 

Register, a former long jumper who earned a silver medal in 2000 at the Paralympic Games in Sydney, Australia, created the program “Amputate to Elevate” a four-phase inspirational system, teaching people how to accomplish goals by eliminating distractions that don’t align with the task at hand. 

First Step, Reckoning 

Phase 1 is reckoning, coming to terms with grief and what was lost. 

“When you realize you do not get back what you desire, to have back what some type of trauma has impacted your life,” Register said. “If you want a New Year’s resolution, you have to grieve that loss. What is it that you do not have access to any longer?”

Register, a three-time All-America in track and field at the University of Arkansas, said once you acknowledge and move past what you lost, it’s important to reexamine your goals. 

“You’ve got to look at what your goal is, look back and accept that there are things that you have to part ways with, and it’s hard to do, but it’s necessary in order to go forward,” the veteran said. 

It’s Time to Revise 

When challenges come up, and it steers you off course, it’s time to jump into the second phase: revision. Speaking from the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museum in Colorado Springs, Register mentioned the 1980 Summer Games in Moscow, in which the U.S. boycotted over Russia’s invasion of Afghanistan. Many names of athletes who qualified but didn’t get a chance to compete in the Moscow Olympics are listed on the walls of the museum. 

“So, if everybody remembers the 1980 boycott. This is the best part of this museum,” Register said, pointing to a vast list of names. “All these names on the wall are people that were not able to compete, even though they made the team. The revision is being able to cast a new vision. And even though they’ve made it to that portion now they’re in a state of grief where they can’t move forward. But some actually did – and were able to take that grief and shift it because they were able to go to the 1984 Olympic Games.” 

Register pointed to track and field legend Carl Lewis, who regrouped from his 1980 disappointment to capture four gold medals at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. 

Renewal Creates Opportunities 

Phase three in Register’s program is renewal, keeping your goals at the forefront of your planning, breaking through painful, life-altering setbacks. Making the commitment and sticking to it. 

“This sounds easy, but it’s very hard,” Register said. “When the doctor amputated my leg, I did not get my leg back. Once we make a commitment, we do not get back what was previous.” 

We might have phantom pains to it, but we don’t get it back, and this is hard. Why? Because we’re no longer the expert. I’ve been walking with two legs for 29 years. Then I have the amputation. I have to relearn how to walk on an artificial leg. So that means I have to give myself space and grace to grow.”

Resonance, Putting It All Together 

The final phase is resonance, reflecting on the first three phases. Register said his plan can relate to many people trying to stick to New Year’s resolutions as the first month of 2026 draws to a close. 

“It can seem exhausting when we’re trying to think (through) these new resolutions,” Register said. “Those are the reasons it’s exhausting because we think they’re finite, but all of them are working in congruence. We don’t often thing about that, and that’s resonance.”

Register believes the key to success in resolutions is actually doing less, simplifying goals so they can be attained. 

After retiring from paralympic competition, Register co-founded the Paralympic Military Sports Program, giving severely wounded and paralyzed veterans an opportunity to compete in high-level events.